The American Dream in the Great Gatsby The American Dream is a national ideal that emphasizes freedom and making a better life for oneself and family through hard work. Many immigrants came to the United looking for a better life and they described their success as part of the American Dream. Throughout history the dream has changed and evolved as the nation has matured. During the 1920s, the economy was booming and thousands of soldiers had returned from World War I. This change in American society lead to the creation of a new American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores this idea in The Great Gatsby. The robust changes in wealth and morals in the 1920s points to a larger shift in the American dream which leads the characters of The Great Gatsby to a decline of moral values and unprecedented materialism that
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Nick says, “I had no sight into Daisy’s heart, but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game” (6). Tom and Daisy move around the country every time they are in a bad situation or feel unfulfilled, each time hoping that this time they will find happiness but it never does. They are searching fo happiness in material things instead of in relationships and the people around them. Tom is searching for the joy he had when he was a star athlete in college and not even his affair is bringing him the happiness he wants. Nick also yells at Gatsby, “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn, “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154). Nick sees even through Gatsby’s flaws that he still has hope in the future and that he is searching for human connection, although he uses wealth and illegal activities to get there. The new American Dream does not lead to happiness in those who have achieved the goal and admiration of
Nick says, “I had no sight into Daisy’s heart, but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game” (6). Tom and Daisy move around the country every time they are in a bad situation or feel unfulfilled, each time hoping that this time they will find happiness but it never does. They are searching fo happiness in material things instead of in relationships and the people around them. Tom is searching for the joy he had when he was a star athlete in college and not even his affair is bringing him the happiness he wants. Nick also yells at Gatsby, “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn, “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154). Nick sees even through Gatsby’s flaws that he still has hope in the future and that he is searching for human connection, although he uses wealth and illegal activities to get there. The new American Dream does not lead to happiness in those who have achieved the goal and admiration of